As the use of Internet is increasing, computers are getting more prone to attacks by viruses and hackers.

Wireless routers are probably one of the most common network equipment these days, which have found ways towards many households and office complexes these days. Since wired local area network (LAN) connections have become much popular across the world in recent times, people actually rely on wireless routers to re-route the internet connection to more devices in a single perimeter. Using a wireless router, a single internet connection could be used in different computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, televisions, internet of things (IoT) and plenty other stuff. Apparently, without an internet router these days, life will become difficult.

Routers route a whole lot of information every moment, and it is crucial that they are protected. Routers are network devices that run on some basic operating system, so they could be infected with malwares and could be altered with different settings if access to a wireless router isn’t strictly protected. Here are few mistakes people do, and a discussion how overcoming them could potentially secure internet connection over a wireless router.

Change Default Admin Password

Many people don’t bother changing the admin password of the wireless router they use. This is the most common case in household networks. People just buy a router, do some initial set up and once the internet connection is set, they don’t really care about the admin password. However, that’s a serious mistake people anyone who can connect to the Wi-Fi network or physically get a cable connected to the router itself, will be able to access the admin panel and implant malware to still data, or simply change settings to hamper access to the internet, or steal internet data allocation. Changing the admin password while setting up a router for the first time could save a user from all of these issues. Usually, the admin password settings are located under general router settings.

Wi-Fi Encryption Scheme

Over time, several different encryption and security schemes have been invented for providing security over Wi-Fi networks. The words WEP, WPA and WPA-2 might not make any sense to the general users of wireless routers, but the inside technology of these encryption schemes vary by a large amount. WEP was developed way back in 1999, and eventually WPA and WPA-2 followed into the industry. Some devices don’t really support latest WPA2 technology; WPA is a safe bet for anyone who wants Wi-Fi in their homes. Sticking to WEP could be harmful.

Old Firmware for Router

Like the smartphone updates, even the routers get firmware update via their manufacturer websites. New firmware comes with additional security and new features, which could be highly beneficial for the users. TheMoon was a router malware that infected Linksys routers with older firmware. A non-permitted CGI script could run on those routers, because the firmware was old and it couldn’t detect the intrusion and later is history. User should check for regular updates for their router in manufacturer’s website.

Conclusion

A router is a simple piece of tech with the ability of processing many complex data through it. Make the above procedures a basic practice, this way you can keep your router protected from malware and your internet connectivity more secure.

Sure, the world is hyped about security programs than ever before. Computers users are conscious of what might happen if they roam around the web of networks without having any security, and how important personal data are. All being said, everyone now wants to get a good antimalware program for their computer but all these handy options would certainly make anyone go confused. Bitdefender is currently topping the security programs rating list, but the price tag is to be marked because it’s not very low. On the other hand, Malwarebytes which has been known as a great low cost yet very effective antimalware program is making its way.

Here’s a comparative review on both these products. We intend to guide computer users in dilemma to choose between performance and value for money.

Pricing

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus comes for $39.95 for a single license per year. User can only install this software on a single computer and the license would require renewal after a year. For 3 device license, the price would be $59.95 for a year. For the functionality Bitdefender Antivirus Plus offers, the pricing is pretty good.

However, Malwarebytes Antivirus Free offers nearly similar specs for free. Of course, the number of features would be less, but for a free version that offers some premium antivirus features would certainly be more beloved by the users. However, Malwarebytes Antimalware Premium version exists and it’s distributed online for $24.95 per year.

Features

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus certainly has the higher number of features whereas Malwarebytes only packs the most necessary of the modules. However, still the free version of Malwarebytes offers more security features than Bitdefender Antivirus Free, so users get a specific choice to make here.

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus comes with anti-rootkit, anti-spam filter, antiphishing, anti-adware and anti-spyware modules apart from the basic antivirus engine. The antivirus engine is same as the highest priced Bitdefender Total Security product, hence there’s no compromise in security strength.

Malwarebytes on the other hand lacks a full-fledged anti-phishing module. Certain necessary features are built on as a basic security standard though. Bitdefender can restore a computer system or perform extensive scanning in Rescue Mode, which isn’t as effective in Malwarebytes interface.

Extras

Apart from the basic modules mentioned above, there are few other features offered by Bitdefender. Unfortunately, Malwarebytes doesn’t seem to offers these on their free Antivirus, however the Premium version of Malwarebytes pack a few.

Data protection, file shredding, Safepay, Wallet etc. are standard features on Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. None of these are available on Malwarebytes free; data protection features comes as standard on Malwarebytes Antivirus Premium. Registry cleanup is available on the paid versions of both programs. Bitdefender offers various profiles like Movies, Gaming etc. which makes the program go silent and not disturb the user in their entertainment time, Malwarebytes offer the same through their Silent Mode which needs to be activated manually.

Conclusion

Bitdefender is a full-fledged anti-malware program, whereas Malwarebytes intend to be a low cost or even free security program with minimalistic, but a fuller approach. Depending on your needs pick either of these programs; for full proof security we would recommend Bitdefender Antivirus Plus.

Bitdefender Internet Security is a complete network security suite that strengthens every aspect of one’s internet browsing – from just surfing the web to making transactions for purchase or anything else. I bought Bitdefender Internet Security with bitdefender discount coupon 2018 from antivirusinsider.com and now got up with this Safepay feature. Online banking offers extreme convenience in too many cases, but at the same time that’s often the core target for the hackers to break in. Safepay tracks payments and keeps the process safe at any given time, except when you don’t want it.

Users might just want to disable the Safepay service for so many reasons. Maybe they just don’t want security assistance while making a payment because the network is trusted or there’s only one PC where such transactions are made. Whatever be the reason, if Safepay isn’t required then it could be easily disabled as well.

How does Safepay Works

Bitdefender tracks every user activity because it’s your security that keeps all the prying eyes away. As it happens, the program will know when a user launches a web surfing program and visits a financial website. Bitdefender would offer an option – whether the user would like to open that specific site in Safepay protection, once or for every single time. User can define their preference from this prompt, or manually activate and adjust the settings from the Safepay dedicated program. Users are offered with the ability to switch back and forth Safepay and regular desktop interface.

The main objective of Safepay is to provide a safe window for online banking and transactions so that user data don’t get compromised in midst of the process.

How to Disable Bitdefender Safepay

If you do not want to use the Bitdefender Safepay service anymore, you could get rid of it from your system. Being a separate from the actual Internet Security suite, there is flexibility and freedom of using the built in Windows program uninstaller or any third party uninstaller to get rid of the program, or just disabling it from the Bitdefender menus.

Uninstall Bitdefender Safepay

If you want to remove the program from your PC, open Control Panel on your computer and then open Programs and Features. The program list might take a while to populate the installed programs list, once it shows up the Bitdefender Safepay software should be on the top side of the list. Select it, click on Uninstall and wait till the process finishes.

Later on, use a registry cleaner program to get rid of the registry entries Bitdefender Safepay has left behind. This is a sensitive part as any improper modification to the registry could result in program or OS malfunction.

Disable Bitdefender Safepay

In order to disable Bitdefender Safepay through the official way, launch Bitdefender Safepay from the desktop icon or Start menu shortcut. Inside the Bitdefender Safepay window, find Settings from the top right corner of the window and select ‘Do not use Safepay’. To revert the settings at a later time, simply select either of the rest two options – ‘Every time’ or ‘Automatically open’.

Conclusion

Having the Bitdefender Safepay feature turned on will make internet surfing much safer. However if you still want to turn it off, you now have the procedure.

Unlike many other software, removing an antivirus program from a computer or mac might sometimes be a troublesome job. A security program spreads its root deep down into the system core for better functionality, and typical uninstallation doesn’t really uproot the whole program. If one plans to replace their antivirus with a different program, it would be necessary to completely uninstall the previous program to get the best output. Even upgrading into a newer edition could require the same. If you are upgrading into the newest version of Bitdefender antivirus, you should completely uninstall the previous version on your PC or Mac first. Following are the procedures to follow for the completion of this task.

Uninstall Bitdefender Antivirus from PC

This could be done in two ways on a Windows based computer system. Either using the uninstaller program available on the Bitdefender website, or using built in Windows uninstaller and later on cleaning off the remainders using cleaners like CCleaner.

Using the Bitdefender Uninstaller

Bitdefender uninstaller tool is an executable file that uninstalls the Bitdefender components from a computer system at easy, without bothering the user about all leftover files. It would simply uninstall the program first, later on the remainder files would be erased as well. The Bitdefender uninstaller file is available here, and it could be downloaded for free.

The uninstaller program guides the user through its steps and once the process is done, the uninstaller might prompt for a restart. Accept the prompt; as the restart is necessary for the changes to take place.

Using Windows Uninstaller

To use the Windows utility, head to Control Panel and find Programs and Features. Upon launching Programs and Features, wait till the new window populates the list of available programs on your computer.

Once the list is loaded, scroll down until you find the Bitdefender component. Select it and click on uninstall, the basic uninstallation would begin. This process would take few minutes, and a restart may be required for the process to finish.

After the restart, open a file cleaner like CCleaner on your computer. Find anything that is related to Bitdefender using the search box, and clean it off manually. Clean the registry and other folders as well. Restart the computer again.

This method requires more attention but could be more effective, depending on the skills of the user.

Uninstall Bitdefender from a Mac

To uninstall Bitdefender antivirus from an Apple Macintosh computer system, you need to download the specific uninstaller for Mac from here. This might take a while depending on the internet bandwidth the user have. However, once the download completes open the file and click on the ‘Check’ button on the new window that has appeared on the display.

The program will check for any Bitdefender installation on your Mac and when found, the user will be notified of the program with an Uninstall button. Confirm the action, a window might appear asking for your username and password. Enter and click ‘Ok’ to approve.

Conclusion

Both these methods are easier enough, only the uninstaller program is necessary. After uninstallation, get another antivirus program as soon as possible.